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"I married Brad for the wrong reasons, I know that now. If I was more mature, if the girls came later in life, then I wouldn't have walked down the aisle. I would have raised them by myself, or with him as parents and not as husband and wife." She gives me a small smile.

"Laney, I wouldn't have married you if I didn't know it was right. Even if you promised me continuous sex, I wouldn't have done it." I give her a wink.

"You're an ass!" she says, laughing. "Do you have the same belief system as your mom did when it comes to marriage?"

"Yes." I didn't have to think about it. I already knew my answer. She's it for me.

"What did your grandparents say about how he treated your mother?"

"They didn't like him. From day one they knew he was a snake."

"So it wasn't their influence that kept your mom in the marriage?"

"No. They would have supported her if she chose to leave. They never kept it a secret how they felt about him. He was scum, and they weren't evil people either. My mom was who she was because she had great role models, but they wanted more for her and unfortunately she never got the love they had hoped for her."

"What are you thinking about?"

"From the time I was a teenager I always felt my father had something to do with their deaths."

"Why would you think that?"

"I just feel that he had something to do with it. They were robbed right in front of the flat they owned in England. It was in a nice neighborhood, very little crime. Everyone who lived in that neighborhood had done so for years. They were all my grandparent's age. I just see it as odd."

"Why would your father have something to do with it?"

"It was all about power for him. He spent years trying to prove himself to my grandfather, and he never succeeded. He always felt that he was lower than my grandparents. They never treated him wrong. They wouldn't do that to my mom. I think he thought since he was married to the heir that he would naturally take over. But that wasn't the case."

"They gave her the company, didn't they?"

“Yes, my father was furious, that not only had he had been overlooked to lead the company, but by the fact that my mom was a natural leader. His jealousy rang out and he began to take it out on my her."

"I can only imagine."

"It was bad before just because she had so much more than what he thought he had. He could have had everything, but it was him who was his worst enemy, and nobody else. After my mother took over the company, he became worse. It wasn't just the verbal jabs anymore; he would flaunt relationships in front of her. He even had me tag along one night when he wined and dined some young thing. It physically made me sick and I was only around twelve at the time. I walked out of the restaurant in the middle of it. I walked all the way home that night just trying to get my anger in check. That was the last nail in the coffin for me. That was the night I knew I never wanted to be like him.”

“When did your mom become sick?”

“I was finishing up my eighth year in the forces when she found out. She had a brain tumor and it was terminal. I left the military and went home to take care of her. My dad was never around. It was like he didn't care that she was dying. My sister and I took care of her for four months before she passed. We did it all. We fed her, bathed her. We didn’t want strangers taking care of her. It was hard watching our mother fade away like that. All the while, my father never helped. Never lifted a finger, never said a kind word. Before she passed, I helped to make sure that her affairs were in order.”

She gives a little chuckle. “I can only imagine.”

“I made sure nothing was left to my father. She wanted me to be the executor of her estate. She set up a trust for my sister. I was given ownership of the company so I was able to assign the CEO position. That ensured that he couldn’t try to gain control.”

“Good for you, Nathan. Why didn’t you take the reins though? Why give it to someone else?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you the same thing?”

“Cattle is in my blood, but it was never my passion. Nursing is. Healing, helping, compassion. That’s who I am and that’s why I went to school to be a nurse, to help others. I don’t think my father ever expected me to take over the business.”

“After she had passed on, I started a security company. Like you, saving lives is my passion and if it weren’t for her passing, I’m sure I would still be in the military. I think I’ve made her proud with the choices I’ve made.”

“That is so much more complex than my life. I can’t believe how similar our upbringing was. Our relationships with our parents are so comparable.”

“I know, love, I know.” I lean down and kiss her head again.

“Your sister, what’s her name?”

“Natalie; she’s great. I can't imagine my life without her. She looks so much like our mother; long dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. She’s her twin through and through and has a heart of gold, always giving back either financially or giving her time volunteering with the youths of the city. After our mom passed, I gave our family estate to my sister. She's opened our family home on so many different holidays just so kids who don’t have families of their own can have an amazing holiday memory. The first year she did it for Christmas, I thought she was crazy. Oh, my God, there were so many kids running around screaming and yelling. When Santa showed up, I think I went deaf for a minute. A rock concert has nothing on a house full of kids when they first lay eyes on Santa.”